E331 series
The E331 series was a Japanese articulated electric multiple unit. Built in 2006 for JR East, the set was introduced experimentally on the Keiyō Line on 18 March 2007 until it was taken out of service on 16 January 2011 after just four years of service. History Incorporating technology from the earlier E993 series set, two seven-car half-sets were delivered to JR East in March 2006; cars 1 to 7 were built by Tokyu Car Corporation (now known as J-TREC) in Yokohama and cars 8 to 14 were built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Kobe. The lone set, designated AK1, was introduced experimentally on the Keiyō Line on 18 March 2007 at the start of the revised timetable and was used only on weekend services. The set was taken out of service on 30 April 2007; cars 8 to 14 were brought back to Kawasaki Heavy Industries' factory on 7 October 2007 for modifications, while cars 1 to 7 were brought back to Tokyu Car Corporation's factory on 25 March 2008. The set reentered service on 23 December 2008. The set was taken out of service again around May 2009 and only returned to service on 3 April 2010; a few months later, the set was taken out of service yet again on 16 January 2011 and was stored out of service at Shin-Narashino Depot from then. The set, having been stored out of use at Shin-Narashino Depot since 2011, met its final fate on 25 March 2014, when it was hauled to Nagano Works for scrapping. The set was scrapped on 2 April, and as such, no cars from the set survive today. Design The set incorporated various novel design features mostly implemented from the older E993 series experimental EMU. The 14-car set consists of two seven-car half-sets permanently coupled together and mounted on shared bogies between the diaphragms, for a total of sixteen bogies; cars 7 and 8 had two bogies each, with the remaining cars having shared bogies between the diaphragms. Specifications Construction was of stainless steel. The set, as mentioned earlier, used various design features as seen on the older E993 series set. Cars 1, 7, 8 and 14 were 16.5 meters long, while the remaining cars were 13.4 meters long. The set's headlamps were high-intensity discharge fixtures. The set's traction system consisted of six insulated gate bipolar transistor variable frequency drives manufactured by Toshiba that were mounted on cars 2, 4, 6, 9, 11 and 13. The set's traction motors, on the other hand, are extremely unique; the train used direct-drive motors in addition to the then-novel permanent magnetic synchronous motors. The combined use of direct-drive motors and permanent magnetic synchronous motors in the set gave it a very unique droning sound when it accelerated from idle; once the set reached a certain speed, the traction motors made no discernible noise. Inside the train was an AIMS navigation system, an evolution of the older TIMS navigation system as used on various older sets, such as the E231 series. References *Wikipedia.org Category:Unique Locomotives Category:Electric Trainsets Category:JR Group trains Category:Kawasaki locomotives Category:Tokyu Car locomotives Category:Scrapped Locomotives